Welcome, today we are talking with A.R. Grosjean! I would like to thank you for taking time out of your busy writing schedule to answer a few questions. First, let’s delve into who you are. Some of the questions may be untraditional but you’d be surprised at what readers connect to, and sometimes the simplest ‘I can relate to that’ grabs their interest where nothing else can.
Can you share a little something about A.R. Grosjean that’s not mentioned in your bio on your website?
I am a big-time cat lover. I grew up on a farm and there were probably a hundred there (my grandfather wanted them to chase after the mice). I would talk to them, sing to them, and just love them. For a long time, they were the only friends I had. Today, I have five cats. They are still little (around teenager age for cats). We call them Precious, Kit, Kat (those two came from the same litter so I named them after the candybar), Autumn, and Luna. They are inside/outside cats and I love them.
How long have you been writing?
I’ve been writing since I was 11 years old. When I started having children, I stopped writing briefly, but then picked it back up when they were old enough. My first book was traditionally published 20 years after I started writing.
What have you found most challenging about it?
Writing itself is something I love and found that it came more naturally for me than talking to people. Editing is a little challenging because people expect you to be perfect and I’m nowhere near perfect so I try to make it as close as I can. Marketing is where I struggle with the most. I don’t know what really sets me apart from everyone else and struggle finding the right audience.
What does writing do for you? Is it fun, cathartic, do you get emotional?
I am an emotional person anyway so I do feel what the characters feel. I have scared myself, laughed out loud, which got my husband’s attention, and have yelled at them on several occasions. Luckily, I was alone so no one heard me lol. Writing is something I’ve always been passionate about because it helped me in a time where I needed something. It literally saved my life. I feel as though it was something given to me by our maker. I was chosen and I’ve been honored by it. I’m addicted to it and feel like I can’t live without writing something.
Describe what your writing routine looks like. Are you disciplined with a strict schedule or do you have to be in the mood?
I’m not a “mood” writer. But I’m not really disciplined either. I choose to write when I write, which is a lot. I don’t have a big “social life”. I have written when I felt low, sick, or hyper which is a lot lol. My stories are important to me and I want to share them, so I write.
Did you go into writing thinking that it would be a hobby or a job?
I never thought of writing as a hobby. Almost everyone who I told I wanted to be a writer said it was. It always upset me because it was who I was. It’s not what I do. I don’t think of it as a job either. Or a chore lol. As I said, it’s who I am, not what I do. I live and breathe writing.
What inspires you?
Anything and everything. I have an open-mind so I see things a lot of people don’t. I can take an ordinary day and turn it into something entirely different and create a story from it. Some of my ideas have scared my husband (long story) and some of them have surprised me because I don’t “look” for ideas, they just hit me.
Let’s move on and give readers some insight into your personal life.
What are your pet peeves?
One of my biggest pet peeves is people driving while on their phone. I was almost hit by someone who wasn’t paying attention. That was in high school. Ever since then, I learned I had to pay more attention to make up for it. Another big one is someone who is considered “two-faced”. They pretend to be your friend and really they can’t stand you. I hate that.
Who is your hero?
My husband, first. He saved my life too, sort of. I don’t have a great family and he rescued me from the life I had with them. He showed me I was stronger than I thought I ever could be, opened my eyes to a lot of things, and helped me cope with depression/anxiety.
Give us one thing on your bucket list.
Beside seeing one of my books on the big screen? I would say visiting New England. Part of my heritage is from there. And one of my characters comes from a family who started out there. I think it would be pretty cool to visit the areas in my head to physically see those places.
What would readers find surprising about you?
I’ve been all over the US, through Greyhound and we did hitchhike some. I always wanted to see other parts of the US. Being a writer, it was something I wanted to do so I could learn more about these other places. I guess you can say it was an expensive research study. We weren’t finding good enough jobs where we lived and I needed to get away for mental health reasons. We made a lot of good friends along the way and I did get to see a lot of amazing places. A lot of awesome ideas came from it too.
If you could go to Heaven, who would you visit?
My maternal grandmother. I was close to her and my grandfather who is also gone, but she’s the one I’d have to see. I would tell her all about my children (she only met one of them). I named my youngest after her so I’d tell her about that. I would talk to her about my books and my journey for that. I’d tell her about my grandchildren and how she inspired me to be a grandparent. I don’t know if I’d be able to leave though. I still miss her that much.
Now that our readers know who A.R. Grosjean is let’s get down to the business of your newest release, Alien Task Force.
Please tell us a little bit about, Alien Task Force.
This idea was given to me. My husband had a dream that he was being chased by a handful of aliens. He doesn’t believe they exist which is why he was fascinated by the dream. I thought it was interesting so I asked him if I could use it for a book. He loved the idea lol. I just added amnesia to it.
The main character has two names. “John Doe” and Azula. Azula escaped his home planet after being charged and tried for the Duke’s murder. His friends helped him and told him about Earth. After crash landing on Earth, he is hit by a car and loses his memory. Nurse Baker helps him regain his memory. Now he’s got more questions. Did he kill the Duke? If he didn’t, how is he going to prove it? Now that Lord Vaduel knows where he is, how is Azula going to stop him and save the people of Earth?
What was your hardest challenge writing this book?
Normally, I just allow the characters to do their thing, and I follow along and write everything down. This time around, the story was going to be way too short. Azula was hard to get to know. He was hiding secrets from me. Once I took control, I gave him situations to get out of and it was fun. I was able to learn more about him and though he does have one trait I don’t like, I learned that I really love him. He could be a book boyfriend lol. I get to write more about him later in a series. That’s got me excited.
What kind of research did you have to do?
I have a book on weapons but I created new ones so I wound up not using that book. I did speak to other people about names and such. I wanted the story to be realistic. The rest of the research I did will have to remain nameless. I have to keep some secrets lol.
What in your opinion makes good chemistry between your leading characters?
At first, it was physical. The fact that Natalie Baker didn’t run away screaming when Azula became her, grabbed his attention. I think that was when he truly fell in love with her. Seeing how excited she was about aliens and the fact that he was one who happened to be a shape shifter. Yeah, I love that fact too! He doesn’t have to wear a “man suit” to blend in with the humans. As with the other characters, it depends who you’re talking about. There’s bad chemistry between Azula and the men who are chasing him and Natalie. And the people who are helping Azula—want the same thing—to stop Lord Vaduel. He destroys everything and steals for himself.
I see that you have a new release coming out in December. What’s that about?
Hidden Agenda is about two separate men. One man is Thomas. He works in the chemical lab where a serum was created. He steals it to better his life. Someone steal it from him. A virus is unleashed shortly after. Thomas wants to know why it was taken from him and why he was hired to steal it.
Rick is the second main character. He works in the same facility, but he’s a janitor. His Chinese wife speaks her mind and she has a heated discussion at the super market with the others waiting in line after the virus breaks. Ming and Rick are kidnapped and she is killed. Rick wants the man responsible and he wants to know why/how the virus was unleashed.
Thomas and Rick (separately) find a group of people who think they have all the answers. Their answers point to one man. Is this one man responsible for unleashing the deadly virus and Ming’s death?
Any other works in progress?
I am writing A Mother’s Pain at the moment. It is set to release in the spring next year (2024). It is about a mother who struggles, loses her children, and fights to get them back. It is a women’s fiction inspirational piece based on my life (some of it). I fictionalized some of it.
Any advice for aspiring authors?
Stop dreaming about writing and do it. If you need time, make it. Only you can do that. Talk to other writers, join groups, get to know us. If you have questions, ask. But you have to write. Set a schedule that works for you. Stay true to who you are as a person and writer. If you don’t know how you want to write, read the type of books that interest you and pull you to write. Learn their voice and then invent your own. You don’t have to write every day. But each word you do write puts you closer to the end of the story. Once you’re finished writing it, edit it. This is when you need tough skin so learn how to take critism. Once other people edit the story, they may give you advice that you won’t agree with. Use what works for your story, ignore the rest. It’s not about you, it’s to benefit the story. Before you publish the book, begin telling others about it and get them interested. Learn about marketing now too because you will need it. If someone tells you, you have to do this and that, this way in order to be a writer or get a book read—ask someone else. Everyone is different. What works for one writer, may not work for someone else. All areas of writing is like this including marketing. Be true to who you are. It’s okay to try new things—it is how you learn, but only do these things if you want to, not because someone says you have to.
Final words?
Never give up. If something isn’t working for this story, save it. It might work better for another story. I’ve lost a lot of stories over the years so always back up your stories. Don’t trust just one place, use several. That way if you lose one, you’ll have another place to get it. I like Google, a flash drive, and Outlook (hotmail). But you should use the ones you feel comfortable with.
Please include the following links and an author picture:
Website: https://argrosjeanauthor.wixsite.com/home
Blog: https://argrosjeanauthor.wixsite.com/home/blog
Email: a.r.grosjean@hotmail.com
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